A Day ‘N’ the Life of a Funeral Director in Elsberry

Shown left to right is Kayla Carter, Larry Carter and Kim Mueller. Although Larry and Kayla have been in business for approximately 31-years, Mueller has only been with them for approximately two-years.

Life is a gift and what a person does throughout it is something many believe should be celebrated upon their passing from this world into the next. It is this belief, this ideal that Carter-Ricks Funeral Director Larry Carter, along with his wife Kayla have lived by for approximately 31-years.

“We as a couple have been doing this for 31-years,” said Kayla. “This isn’t a job or a career; it’s more like a way of life where we look at everyone who walks through our door as family.”

According to Kayla, this is an important thing to both her and her husband because whether they know the person they are laying out or not, they are part of that family’s mourning, their memories, their tears, their stories. Although being in a small town, such as Elsberry, has forced them to prepare and lay to rest several people they have grown to love it has also humbled them to the idea that one’s time cannot be controlled.

“I think sometimes people are afraid of funeral directors because in a sense we open people’s eyes to things some may not be ready or want to think about,” said Kayla. “We’re taking care of the family of the person who passed just as much as Larry is taking care of the body. In a small town like this we are more than just a service because it is just as important to help those left behind as it is the person we are preparing.”

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